Material conveying and dumping vehicle



Nov. 2K, 195@ H. E. GETMAN 2,530,574

MATERIAL CONVEYING AND DUMPING VEHICLE Filed April 16, 1948 5 Sheets-Sheet l ZSnnentor HEMAN E. GETMAN PM fi (Ittorneg Nov. 21, 1950 H. E. GETMAN 2,530,574

MATERIAL CONVEYING AND DUMPING VEHICLE Filed April 16, 1948 I 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 lol us L I I nos 9 nos 4 H2 3m entor HEMAN E. GETM attorney H. E. GETMAN MATERIAL CONVEYING AND DUMPING VEHICLE NOV ZI, 1950 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed April 16, 194B mm Om. 3 3

FIG. 6

Snvenfwr HEMAN E. GETM N F/ a 9 35 (Ittorneg Patented Nov. 21, 1950 MATERIAL CONVEYING AND DUMPING VEHICLE Heman E. Getman, South Haven, Mich, assignor to Getman- Brother partnership 5, South Haven, Michn, a

Application April 1-6, 1948, Serial No. 21,394

1 Claim; (Cl. 298 -l7) This invention relates in general to a selfpropelled vehicle for. conveying and dumping material, and relates specifically to an improved type thereof which is small and compact, easily maneuverable, inexpensive to build, and is .in general satisfactory for carrying small loads around congested areas.

Since the development of high production concrete mixing equipment it has been desirable to provide a device for performing the general functions of a wheel-barrow, for both delivering sand, gravel and cement to a mixer and for carrying mixed concrete away therefrom to the point of use, by which device the effective work of one man could be substantially increased. To accomplish this, it has appeared that a materials conveying vehicle of lower cost, greater maneu verability, greater load capacity and greater sturdiness was needed than has heretofore been available even though attempts have already been made tosolve the general problem.

Ithas been recognized that said conveyor vehicle should be power driven, should have space for a driver and a dump box which would be fully operable from the drivers position on the vehicle. It has been further recognized that such a conveyor vehicle must'be sufiiciently small and maneuverable for satisfactory operation within a building, without sacrificing the vehicles load capacity. 1

Thus it is desirable that the general organization of the vehicle be such as to provide a device having the required characteristics. Particularly, it is desirable that inexpensive, but reliable clutch means be provided between the driving engine and the driven mechanism, and also that inexpensive, but reliable, means heprovided to mount and actuate a self-dumping materials container, or box, with a minimum of strain upon the entire machine.

Accordingly, it is a primary object of this invention to provide an improved power driven vehicle for conveying and dumping material, wherein the dump box is mounted upon the leading end of the vehicle chassis.

A further object of this invention is to provide an improved conveyor vehicle, as aforesaid,

upon which space is provided for a driver and from which space all controls are within easy reach.

A further object of this invention is to rovide an improved conveyor vehicle; as aforesaid, which is small enough and maneuverab e enough" to be operated satisfactorily within a building, or other congested region, without sacrificing the vehicle's I load capacity.

1 along the line V- V of Figure 1-.

A further object of this invention is to provide an improved conveyor vehicle, as aforesaid, whose dump box is cushioned upon and against the tread of the front wheels when said dump box is in the tilted position.

A further object of this invention is to provide an improved conveyor-vehicle, as aforesaid, having a power unit which is laterally slidable with respect to said vehicle chassis whereby said power unit may be moved to tighten and loosen a power transmitting belt.

Other objects and purposes of this invention wilbecome apparent to persons familiar with this type of equipment upon referring to the accompanying drawings and upon reading the following specification.

In meeting those objects and purposes here-- tofore mentioned, as well as others incidental thereto and associated therewith, I have provided a three wheeled power driven vehicle with a tilting dump box pivotally mounted upon the forward end of the vehicle chassis. A seat and steering apparatus are provided upon the rearward end of the chassis for a driver. The dumpbox is so positioned with respect to the front wheels that bumpers mounted on the sides of said dump box are cushioned against the tread of the tires, when the dump box is in the tilted position.

A transmission, which is suspended from and below the vehicle chassis, is belt driven by an engine slidably supported upon the upper side of the chassis between the dump box and the steering apparatus and laterally spaced from said transmission with respect to said chassis. The clutching mechanism is comprised of a pair of lateral slide rails, upon which said engine is slidably mounted, and includes a foot lever by means of which said engine may be moved on said rails; laterally with respect to said chassis, to release the tension upon the belt drive.

For illustrations of a preferred embodiment of the invention, attention is directed to the accompanying drawings in which Figure 1 is a 'side' elevation View of the material conveying and dumping vehicle to which: this invention relates.

Figure 2 is a top plan view of said vehicle.

Figure 8 is a side elevation view of said vebjicl'; similar to Figure 1 except that the dumping box is int'he tilted position and the" parking brake is set.

Figure 4 is a bottomplan view of the said vehicl'e.

Figure 5 is a sectional view of the vehicle taken Figure 6 is a front elevation view of the said vehicle.

Figure 7 is a sectional view of a portion of the vehicle taken along the line VII-VII of Figure 1.

Figure 8 is a sectional view taken along the line VIlI-VIII of Figure 2.

Figure 9 is a sectional view taken along the line IX-IX of Figure 8.

Construction As illustrated in Figures 1 through 6 inclusive, the materials conveying and dumping vehicle to which this invention relates, has a chassis Ill comprised of a pair of front driving wheels and I2, a rear turning wheel l3, and a frame 14, which frame is supported upon said driving and turning wheels. The frame 14 has a drivers platform l5, which, in this embodiment of the invention, is slightly higher than a dump box platform IS. The drivers platform 15 is at the rearward end of the conveying vehicle.

It will be understood that the words "rearward and rear, where occuring in this specification, relate to the leftward end of the vehicle or parts thereof, as shown in Figure 1. Furthermore, the words front or forward refer to the rightward end of the vehicle, or parts thereof, as shown in Figure l.

The dump box platform l5 has a wide, or mid, section l1 upon the upper side of which a suitable power unit [8, such as a conventional gasoline engine, is mounted. The wide section I! is separated from and secured to said drivers platform l5 by a drive housing 2|. The dump box platform |G has a narrow section 22 at the forward end of the frame 14 which narrow section is positioned between the driving wheels H and I2, and is separated from the wide section H by an integral, tapered section 23. The width of the narrow section is such, with respect to the width of the wide section, that the said drive wheels H and I2 fit alongside said narrow section without extending materially beyond the edges of the wide section.

The aprons 24 and 25 are secured, as by welding, to the longitudinal edges of the dump box platform l6 and depend substantially perpen dicularly therefrom. The drivers platform, the dump box platform, the drive housing 2|, and the aprons 24 and 25, are all preferably fabricated from steel plate of suflicient and appropriate gauge to meet the demands for strength imposed upon the vehicle of which the frame I4 is a part.

As shown in Figures 2 and 8, the power unit IB is slidably supported upon a pair of lateral slide rails 26 and 21, which slide rails may be secured, as by welding, upon the wide section H of the dump box platform so that they are substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the frame. The said lateral slide rails may be provided with parallel grooves in their opposed sides, which grooves are slidably engaged by a slide plate 28 secured to the bottom of said power unit |8.

One end of a clutch link rod 30 (Figures 2, 8 and 9) is pivotally supported upon and secured to a link rod bracket 29, which bracket is secured, as by welding, to the frame of the power unit l8. The other end of the link rod 30 is threadedly received through an appropriate opening in a clutch pivot block 3|, which block is rotatably supported within the clutch fork 32 by means of a pair of pivot block pins 3|a, which pins are secured to, or integral with, opposite sides of the pivot block 3|.

The clutch fork 32 is secured, as by welding, to one end of a clutch shaft 33, which shaft is rotatably and horizontally supported, within a clutch shaft sleeve 33a. The sleeve 33a, is secured to the drive housing 2| so that the end of the shaft 33, remote from the clutch fork 32, extends rearwardly over the driver's platform I5 where a clutch foot lever 34 is secured thereto. The sleeve 331: preferably, but not necessarily, lies within the drive housing 2 I.

The lower end of the clutch fork 32 (Figures 8 and 9), which extends below the clutch shaft 33, is bent rearwardly and then downwardly within the drive housing 2| to provide a clutch tension arm 35. The lower end of the clutch tension arm 35 is engaged by one end of a clutch spring 36, whose other end is anchored upon the frame M.

The clutch spring 36 (Figure 8), which urges the lower end of the clutch tension arm 35 toward the center of the frame, tends to hold the clutch pedal 34 in a raised position and urges said power unit |8 toward the outer ends of the lateral slide rails 26 and 21. When the clutch pedal 34 is depressed, the clutch spring 35 is stretched and the clutch fork 32 and link rod 30 move the power unit l8 toward the inner ends of the lateral slide rails 25 and 21.

A driving sheave 31 (Figure 4) is secured to, and rotatable with, the drive shaft 38 of the power unit Ill.

The drive housing 2| has a front sheet 39, which comprises a portion of the forward side of the housing 2|, extends below the dump box platform l6 about the same distance as the aprons 24 and 25 and is secured to said platform and to the other part of said housing in any convenient manner, as by welding. A transmission 4|, of any convenient, conventional type, is secured to and supported upon the lower portion of said drive housing front sheet 39, which lower portion shall hereinafter be referred to as the transmission support plate 42. A transmission input shaft 43, which is operable at one end with said transmission 4|, extends through the transmission support plate and is rotatably supported at its other end upon an input shaft support bracket 44. A driven sheave 45 is supported upon and rotatable with said transmission input shaft 43 between the support plate 42 and the support bracket 44. Suitable bracing means, such as the support plate brace 46, may be provided for additional strength. Suitable belts 41, two belts in this embodiment, operably connect the driving sheave 31 to the driven sheave 45. The clutch spring 36 tends to urge the driving sheave 31 laterally away from the driven sheave 45, thereby imposing a tension upon the belts 41. Means, not shown, may be provided to render adjustable the tension imposed by the spring 36.

The tubular front axle housing 48, which supports the differential 49, is in turn secured to and supported upon the forward ends of the aprons 24 and 25, which aprons are braced at these points by means'of the apron brace'plates 5| and 52, respectively. Conventional front axle segments, of which one is indicated at 53, are rotatably supported within'the front axle housing 48 (Figure 4). Said axle segments are engaged at their respectively remote extremities by.

the front driving wheels I and i2, which wheels may be secured thereto, and rotatable therewith,

in any conventional manner, and at their adjacent ends by the operating parts of a conventional differential 49. A propeller shaft 54 having universal joints 55 and 56 operably connects the transmission 4| with the differential 49.

A suitable braking mechanism, including the brake drum 5?, is appropriately supported upon the frame Iii for operable engagement of the drive shaft 54, preferably adjacent to the transmission iI (Figure i). Appropriate brake linkage 58 operably connects the brake drum 57 with a brake foot pedal 59 (Figures 1, 2, 3 and 4), which pedal extends through the drivers platform I5 in a suitable position for foot operation. A parking brake arm BI, which arm is pivotally supported at one end upon said drivers platform I5 by means of the parking brake bracket 62, is provided with a plurality of notches 63 along one edge thereof. When the brake foot pedal 59 is depressed sufficiently, the edge of the foot pedal 64 may be engaged by one of said notches 63 thereby holding said brake pedal in a braking or depressed position.

A gear shift assembly 65 (Figures 1, 2 and 3), including a gear shift lever 56, is mounted in the usual manner on the wide section I! of the dump box platform It above the transmission 4| and functions conventionally.

The rear turning wheel I3 is rotatably supported within the turning'fork Bl, which fork pivotally engages and supports the under side of the drivers platform I .5. The steering wheel 63 is operably connected to the turning fork 6! by means of suitable shafts and gears housed within'the steering column 59, and the gear box 69a. at the head thereof, which gears and shafts may be of any convenient conventional type. A drivers seat lI may be secured, as by welding, to one end of a seat support arm l2, the other end of said support arm being pivotally secured to sa d steering column 69 by means of the seat support arm bracket I3.

A suitably resilient means such as the coiled seat spring i l (Figures 1 and 3) may be secured at its upper extremity to said seat support arm 12, and supported at its lower end upon a seat spring support post "It, said support post being secured to said drivers platform I5 directly be low the seat support arm '32. A convenient, conventional shock absorber It may be secured at its upper end to said seat support arm and secured at its lower end to the drivers platform I5.

An accelerator pedal it (Figures 1 and 2) is operably connected by any convenient means to said power unit for controlling the speed thereof.

A dump box '5? having side walls 18 and 79, a front gate BI and an end wall 82 is pivotally supported upon the narrow section 22 and the tapered section 23, of the dump box platform It between the driving wheels II and I2 and overhangs said narrow section a distance such that its sides are approximately flush with the outer faces of the drive wheels.

The dump box bottom 83 (Figures 4, 5. 6 and 7) is provided with a plurality of tilt shaft brackets 84 having suitable openings within which a tilt shaft 85 is rotatably supported. A plurality of U-shaped tilt shaft support bracketsilfi, in which the tilt shaft 85 is rotatably and removably cradled, are secured, as by welding, to the narrow section 22 of the platform I6 adjacent to the forward edge thereof. The ti t shaft brackets 8 3 are preferably secured to the dump box bottom 83 slightly rearwardly of a point midway between the end wall 82 and the front gate 8i so that the dump box I? may be caused to assume.

6 the tilted position, as shown in Figure 3, upon release of the hereinafter described control mechanism, by the action of gravity alone.

When the dump box ll is held, as hereinafter described in detail, in the horizontal position, that end of the dump box bottom 83 adjacent to the end wall 82, rests on a dump box support angle 8?, which angle is secured, as by welding, to the top surface of the tapered section 23 .of the dump box platform I6, substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the frame is.

The dump box I? is held in a substantially horizontal position by means of the dump box control mechanism 88 (Figures 1, 2, '3 and 5). The said dump box control mechanism has a release shaft 39, which is rotatably supported in a substantially horizontal position by means of the release shaft brackets 91, which brackets are secured, as by welding, to the end wall 82 of the dump box. A release handle 92 is secured at its lower end to one end of the release shaft 89, and is held in an upright position by means of the release handle guide 33, which guide is secured to the dump box end wall 82. The release handle 92 preferably has an approximately right angle bend intermediate its extremities causing the upper end thereof to extend back towards the drivers seat. A release hook arm .94, having a hook '95 at its lower extremity for engaging the rearwardly extending horizontal flange 9'? of the dump box support angle 8], is secured to and suspended from the other end of the shaft 89. Therefore, the hook arm fi l may be caused to pivot about the axis of the release shaft 89 by moving the release handle 92.

A release handle spring 96 urges the release handle 92 away from the dump box end wall 82, thereby tending to urge the hook arm at towards the dump box end wall 82. Accordingly, when the dump box bottom 83 is bearing against the horizontal flange er of the dump box support angle 87, the release handle spring 96 tends to hold the hook in engagement with the said horizontal flange. The hook 95 is preferably so constructed that it will automatically slip over the horizontal flange 97 into engagement therewith when the rear end of the dump box I1 is urged downwardly into the horizontal position.

The front gate 8I is horizontally hinged upon the forward end of the dump box I! by means of the hinge arms 98 and 99 and the hinge brackets I ill and N32. The front gate M is held in a closed position by means of the gate hooks I03 and I64 (Figures 1, 3, 4 and 6), which hooks I03 and IE4 releasahly engage the gate pins I05 and IE6, which pins are secured to the bottom of said front gate. The gate hooks I63 and I04 extend through suitable guide slots In] and H38 in the hook guide plate M9 and are secured to and rotatable with a gate hook actuating shaft III. The gate hook shaft II I is rotatably supported within a plurality of book shaft support sleeves I12, which sleeves are secured, as by welding, .to the dump box bottom 83.

A gate release handle II 3, which is pivotally supported upon the dump box side wall I8 near the rearward end thereof by any convenient means such as the gate release handle brackets I I4, is operab'ly connected to the gate hook actuating shaft I I I by means of the gate hook release linkage H5; It will be understood and recognized that the gate release handle H3 and gate hook release linkage I I5 are mounted in this particular embodiment of the invention upon and adjacent to the dump box side wall Itfor =illus-- trative purposes only. The said linkage and handle may be placed along the dump box side wall I9 without departing from the scope of the invention.

A pair of dump box handles H and Ill (Figures 1 and 2) are secured, as by welding, to the dump box end wall 82 to facilitate manual operation of the dump box 11, if and when necessary.

A pair of dump box bumpers H8 and H9 (Figures 1, 3 and 7) are attached, as by welding, to the dump box side walls I8 and '19, respectively, for the purpose of engaging the tread of the tires I2I and I22 on the front driving wheels II and I2, respectively, when the dump box 11 is released into the tilted position. Thus, the pneumatic tires I2I and I22 provide a resilient means for arresting yieldingly the pivotal movement of the dump box I! when said dump box is urged from the horizontal position into the tilted position, whereby gravitational actuation of the dump box becomes feasible and is effected without unreasonable noise and mechanical shock.

Operation It will be noted that the particular embodiment of the invention, hereinbefore described in detail and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, has been designed in the conventional manner to favor a righthanded operator. It will be recognized, of course, that such design is arbitrary and may be revised for a lefthanded operator without departing from the scope of the invention. It will be further noted that when an operator of the vehicle, to which this invention relates, sits upon the seat II, all control mechanisms relating to the effective operation of the invention are within his reach. The operator actuates the accelerator pedal I6 or the brake pedal 59 with his right foot while operating the clutch pedal 34 with his left foot.

The clutch pedal 34 is normally held in a raised position by the clutch spring 36 (Figure 4), secured as above described. When the clutch pedal 34 is depressed, the power unit I3 is moved away from the adjacent edge of the dump box platform IB by the clutch shaft 33, the clutch fork 32 and the'link rod 39. As the power unit I8 moves along the lateral slide rails 26 and 2! away from said adjacent edge of the dump box platform I6, the driving sheave 31 which is secured to and rotatable with the power unit drive shaft 38 is accordingly moved toward the driven sheave 45. Thus, when the said clutch pedal is in the depressed position the center-line distance between the driving and driven sheaves is less than that required to produce sufficient engaging friction upon the belts 41. Therefore, even if the power unit I8 is running, the driving sheave 3! will not drive the driven sheave 45. When the clutch pedal 34 is released, the clutch spring 36 urges the power unit I8 back toward the said adjacent edge of the platform iii. The driving sheave 9'! is thereby moved away from the driven sheave 45 so that the belts 41 are stretched firmly around the said sheaves, and power can again be transmitted by the sheaves and belts.

When the clutch pedal 34 is in the raised position, thereby creating an operable relationship between the driving sheaves 31 and the driven sheave 45 through the belts 41, the transmission input shaft 43, to which the driven sheave 45 is secured, is rotated and the transmission M is actuated. Depending upon the position of the gear shift assembly 65, the propeller shaft 54 may or may not be actuated. -If the propeller shaft 54 is rotated, the differential 49, the axle segments and the drive wheels II and I2 are actuated, accordingly, in the conventional manner. The brake drum 51 (Figure 4), which is actuated by the brake pedal 59 through the brake linkage 58, may be operated independently of the remainder of the vehicle's mechanism in the conventional manner.

When the dump box IT is in the horizontal position (Figure 1), that end of the bottom 83 adiacent to the dump box end wall 82 is held against the horizontal flange 91 of the dump box support angle 81 by the hook 95 of the dump box release mechanism 88 (Figure 5). Since the release hook arm 94 and release handle 92 are both secured to and rotatable with the release shaft 89, the release handle spring 96, which urges the release handle 92 away from the dump box end wall 92, urges the hook end 95 of the release hook arm 94 toward the dump box end wall 82, thereby tending to hold said hook 95 in engagement with the horizontal flange 91 of the support angle 81.

Because the tilt shaft is preferably slightly rearward of a point midway between the dump box end wall 82 and the dump box front gate SI, the leading end of the dump box TI will be moved downwardly by gravity for dumping as soon as the hook is released by urging the release handle 92 toward the dump box end wall 82. The dump box 1'! will tilt until the dump box bumpers H8 and H9 (Figures 3 and 7) engage the tread of the drive wheel tires I2I and 822, respectively. The pneumatic tires I2I and I22 yieldingly arrest the tilting motion of the dump box i7, without harmful effects upon either the box or its load.

The dump box front gate 8| may be released, as shown in Figure 3, by moving the gate release handle H3 from a horizontal position (Figure 1) to a vertical position (Figure 3). The gate hook release linkage H5, which connects the gate release handle H3 to the gate hook actuating shaft HI, rotates the shaft III so that the gate hooks I93 and I04 move downwardly away from engagement with the gate pins I95 and I06, respectively.

When the load has been removed from the dump box 11, the vehicle operator may manually return the dump box TI to its horizontal position by grasping the dump box handles H8 and H1 and urging the rearward end of the dump box 'i'I downwardly, until the release hook arm 94 again engages the support angle horizontal flange 91. The hook 95 is preferably so shaped that it automatically slides over the free edge of the support angle horizontal flange 91 when the rearward end of the dump box TI is urged downwardly,

When the dump box TI is in the horizontal position, the front gate 8I bears substantially against the front end of the dump box. Therefore, the gate hooks I93 and 194 can be caused to engage the gate pins I05 and I06 by urging said hooks upwardly, which upward movement may be accomplished by moving the gate release handle II3 from the vertical position into a substantially horizontal position.

Although the above mentioned drawings and description apply to one particular preferred embodiment of the invention, it is not m intention, implied or otherwise, to eliminate other variations or modifications which do not depart from the scope of the invention unless specifically stated to the contrary in the hereinafter appended claim.

having a platform thereon and a pair of spaced,

co-axial wheels secured thereto; a, dump box having sidewalls, end Walls and a bottom; a shaft transversely and rotatably secured to said bottom adjacent to one end wall for pivotably supporting said dump box upon said platform near one end thereof; a pair of horizontally, coaxial, L-shaped bumpers secured to said side walls in a plane perpendicular to said side walls and extending from the said side walls and intersecting the rotational planes of said wheels, said bumpers being spaced from the peripheries of said wheels when said dump box is in a, horizontal position and said bumpers being engaged 10 by said wheels when said dump box is in a tilted position whereby pivotal movement of said dump box effectin such tilting is positively limited and braking of said wheels is efiected.

HEMAN E. GETMAN.

REFERENCE S CIT ED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,278,846 Budd Sept. 17, 1918 1,629,918 Kastler Ma 24, 1927 1,725,624 Dixon Aug. 20, 1929 1,786,560 Burrows et al Dec. 30, 1930 2,082,600 Squires et a1. June 1, 1937 2,427,132 Godbey Sept. 9, 1947 2,436,757 Lewis Feb. 24, 1948 

